


Nightmares Never Outgrow You

by HoneyNutFemios93



Series: Constance, Edelgard and Little Horatio [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (Edelgard's Dream has a scene involving intestines. Content warning.), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Kidnapping, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gore, Kidnapping, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoneyNutFemios93/pseuds/HoneyNutFemios93
Summary: A sequel to the fic 'Baby At Our Footsteps'.Horatio once had to comfort Edelgard after a nightmare. It was now her turn to return the favor after he was kidnapped.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Constance von Nuvelle, Flayn/Claude von Riegan
Series: Constance, Edelgard and Little Horatio [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669915
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Nightmares Never Outgrow You

Nightmares Never Outgrow You

_-_-_-_

One night, Edelgard was so focused on her bills, something she wanted to get paid for a while, that she forgot to join Constance in bed. When she did, the dreams came back. 

Edelgard tossed and turned. Despite everything, she felt helpless again. Though, now the nightmare included everyone. Her right-hand man, Hubert, usually cold and unyielding now crying hot tears out for his Empress. Ferdinand cackling like a madman as his intestines danced in the arms of her Uncle. Constance von Nuvelle screaming her own name not in pleasure like they often do at night, but in pain as an Agarthan was stitching her flesh back together for a short period of time, her beautiful blonde and purple locks turning into the same white hue as Edelgard's hair. She wept. Lastly, there was Horatio. Sweet Horatio. He was crying. Volkhard gagged him. 

"Be quiet you pathetic whelp! If you don't listen as you are told, I'll feed you to the wolves!" Those were the same words Volkhard told her youngest sister. Edelgard groaned. Soon she heard Horatio call out for her. 

She woke up. Horatio was on top of her, still small and light over her chest. 

"Mami… Did the bad guy get you?" Horatio asked. 

"W-what?" Edelgard blinked confused. 

She remembered how his eyes were as bright a neon green even in the room dimly lit by only moonlight. 

"Mama told me you see a bad man in your sleep. She says she sometimes hears you try to get away from him." Horatio replied. 

"Oh… Horatio. If only you knew. The bad man got me but that isn't why I toss and turn. This time around, I thought he had you too." Edelgard replied as she embraced Horatio. 

Horatio hugged back, "He would never catch me, Mami! I promise!" 

Edelgard laughed. If only he knew promises like that were truly hard to keep, especially in this environment, where the boy was still too unaware of the dangers in this world. It is true also, Volkhard von Arundel is no more; she disposed of him with Constance after all. 

"How will you flee the bad man, little Horatio?" Edelgard asked. 

"I… I… I use a magic spell Mama uses! I chant it and then poof! I disappear!" Horatio giggled. 

Edelgard shook her head. It figured the boy found a religion of his own in the madness of his life. She was glad it wasn't the Church of Seiros, but Constance's magic herself. 

_-_-_-_

"Constance, can we talk?" Edelgard asked as Constance was wrapping up a seminar on her magic. 

"Why of course, my sweet! Tell me, what is it you're inquiring from your lawfully wedded wife?" Constance was adjusting her papers preparing for the next seminar, but her attention was still on Edelgard. 

"I believe Horatio has been looking up to you a lot lately… N-not that it is a bad thing or anything, b-but…" Edelgard felt embarrassed praising Constance. 

"Oh?" Constance paused, noticing the flustered look on her face.

"I was hoping maybe because of this behavior, Horatio may have grown worried over my well-being. If there is a way to help give Horatio something to look up to in me, I would gladly emulate that behavior more often," Edelgard bit her lip. 

"Ohoho! Oh Lady Edelgard! There are many traits to admire you from! You need not worry that little Horatio hasn't been admiring you in the slightest! Nay, the boy has been giving you praises behind your back! You should see what he has written in his school papers about you!" 

Edelgard blinked. Constance said WHAT?!

Before she can ask her to elaborate, someone rushed in. 

"Lady Hresvelg! Lady Nuvelle! There you are! I have grave news! Bandits have captured your son and are asking for a hefty fee!"

Edelgard and Constance looked to each other before looking at him. 

"...What they'll get is a boot to their heads!" Constance's eyes widened with an intense rage. 

"Constance! Wait!" Edelgard chased after her as Constance began to ride on her Pegasus. Edelgard followed after her on her Wyvern, a gift from Byleth. As they rode out, Edelgard felt her heart beat rapidly, as she and Constance both knew: Their child was in danger. They wouldn't want him to suffer what he went through, especially if these bandits were actually the monsters that would put Horatio through Edelgard's suffering. Edelgard was lucky. She didn't know if Horatio shared her luck. 

Eventually, they heard an echo of something, but it wasn't a boy's scream. It was a bandit's yelp, as he was shot with something peculiar. 

Constance and Edelgard rushed to see the source, their mounts soaring into the forest as they embraced the winds that helped keep it cool for oh so long. Eventually, they saw him standing there with glowing hands. 

Edelgard on one hand was glad to see that Horatio was holding his own. But on the other hand, he was clearly outnumbered. Especially at his age, Edelgard did not want Horatio to be fighting all on his own. 

A taller bandit grabbed a hold of him. She slit his back with her axe, baring his spine open for her as he let go of Horatio. 

"Keep your hands off of my son!" Edelgard hissed. 

"Mami!!" Horatio recognized his Mother's voice. He rejoiced, but knew he was in trouble. 

The other bandits were being slain left and right until eventually, one managed to flee. Edelgard sighed. It was over. They didn't get what they wanted. 

Edelgard was expecting Constance to praise Horatio for using the techniques of House Nuvelle to get him out of trouble. Instead, she heard what sounded like crying and yelling, and at Horatio's direction. 

She hugged Horatio tightly, "Horatio, we almost lost you today! You know you can't just trust everyone with the information you have!"

Horatio was beginning to cry with her, "Mama… Mama, I thought people already knew… How incredible you and Mami are…"

Edelgard looked down. How embarrassing. His praises for the both of them got him into this mess. He may have overshared who they were, so Constance was right about that. Still, the fact Horatio is being scolded for that rather than praised for holding his own the way he did today made Edelgard have a pain in her heart. 

But… She is happy about one thing; Horatio was safe and sound now. That is what matters. 

"I know, Horatio. But remember that horrible people want to hurt the both of us. This may hurt you down the line… but leave the bragging to Mama, okay?" Constance was still crying, still upset… but she was brushing it off because she didn't want to rub Horatio's face on the mess he made any further. 

As they left home, Horatio got to still ride on the majestic black Pegasus that Constance had raised for so long. Edelgard knew of course the boy's probably going to be much more modest from now on. Which was sad… She wanted to know how Horatio admired her so.

_-_-_-_

Edelgard and Constance were fast asleep and soon Edelgard woke up to a knock. She rose, startled and alarmed. 

"W-who is there? Show yourself," Edelgard whispered, trying to not wake up Constance. The door creaked and Edelgard saw little Horatio. 

"Mami… I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you and Mama tonight?" Horatio's eyes still glimmered in the dark like Flayn's. Edelgard was shaken a bit, but had to remember that this was her son. 

"Of course, Horatio." Edelgard replied as she lifted her part of the bedsheets and let Horatio be wrapped in her arms afterward. 

"Mami… You and Mama are great people, but you can be scary too." Horatio admitted in his softest whisper. 

"We get scary because we get scared. You would too if someone you cherished most dear was almost lost in an instant."

Horatio snuggled closer to her. 

"You are always so hardworking and earnest, Mami. You don't let people walk all over you. You always knew how to keep things quiet like this," Horatio replied. 

"It took a lot of work. I know I am trying to make sure you never have to deal with the hardships I have been through. I don't want you to have to see a bad man in your dreams every night. That is why we got especially scary," Edelgard replied. 

"So the bad man… He was a real person?" Horatio asked. 

"Yes, though mine was someone I thought I could trust," Edelgard bit her lip. She killed Lord Volkhard von Arundel a long time ago, and even now she had to remember his face vividly. 

"Is he still around?" Horatio asked. 

"No. Mama and I had to kill him after we defeated the Immaculate One years ago," Edelgard bit her lip. 

"Mami… I'll help get him away from you in your dream tonight. That okay?" Horatio asked. 

Edelgard nodded. 

"Of course. Good night, Horatio."

"Goodnight, Mami." 

_-_-_-_

**Author's Note:**

> COVID hasn't been hitting me too hard (but I am getting some of my stress from it). I just had been getting lazy lately when it came to fan fiction. I apologize for the inactivity lately. I hope to make it up to you all eventually. 
> 
> I may have rushed the end here but I liked my premise enough to at least post it. I felt like people were interested in my Edelgard/Constance family shenanigans, and wanted to add that bit of angst.


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